Crazy Town

So, I live in Crazy Town...

I live in a one bedroom apartment about six blocks from campus.  It's not the best part of town, but not the worst part of town either.  I live in the bottom half of a duplex and it's a pretty nice place.  Was built in the 1880's so it's got come creaks and moans, but all in all, decent.  There are some nice boys who live upstairs.  One is on ISU's track team, the other is his cousin who used to be a student but isn't any more -- he lost his job about four months ago and I think he may be dealing pot now.  Either way, they are polite and very helpful.  Next door is an unofficial fraternity house.  I think four or five guys live there, but they are all really nice and say hi when they see me.  The whole street is a mix of townies and college kids.  Across the street is Crazy Mary.  She is in her 80's, but very spry.. well and crazy.  She has a friend who comes by and takes her places sometimes and sometimes she comes by and they get into yelling fights.  I mean serious yelling fights, and BOY does Mary curse like a sailor!!  I thought I had a filthy mouth sometimes.. this woman uses words I've never heard and had to look up to see what they meant!!  To round out the neighborhood, about a half block away is "Club Soda" which is kind of an out-patient drug treatment place. The people there are all really nice and LOVE Sassy, but we don't linger much... they're kind of a rough group. 

Anyway, that's a brief overview of my neighborhood.  Now, I have never felt unsafe down here.  The neighbors all speak and are friendly.  Other than the pot dealing it's not a bad place. 

And then the crazy lady came..

Tonight Sassy and I were outside.  Me -- hoping she would do her business quickly and her-- trying in vain to find a patch of grass to do her business on... our whole yard is an ice rink.  There isn't a patch of grass or concrete to be seen.. just a solid ice surface... it's a lot of fun to watch Sassy on.. and really easy to pull her back if she's getting into something she shouldn't be (i.e. the random beer bottles that we sometimes find in our yard).  Anyway.. so we're outside.  She starts barking and I look down the street and there is this woman walking SLOWLY down the middle of the road with a car behind her.  At first I think the car is WITH her and something is wrong, but then she moves out of the middle of the road and the car goes on past.  She stops at the apartment building across the street from my place and starts screeching... She's also talking into a phone but I can't tell what she is saying.. so I discretely pull Sassy onto the porch and we go inside. 

Inside, I start getting ready for bed.. wash my face, take out my contacts.. and sassy is growling and barking every now and then.. all the while I can still hear the woman screeching.  So I grab my phone and go back out to the living room.  At this point I think she is yelling at someone while she is screeching so I think there is a fight.. I peek out between the  blinds with my phone ready to call the police and I see her out there -- alone.  She's talking to someone who isn't there -- and screeching.  As I flip on my phone to call the police I watch her walk the middle of the street, put her purse down -- then I notice the police cruiser pulling up.. she then turns around, lays face-down on the ground -- in the middle of the street-- with her hands behind her head.. clearly this isn't her first rodeo. 

then two more police cars pull up.. and there are now six officers pulled up in the middle of my street, right in front of my house... and they are searching her tiny little purse.  I couldn't hear what was going on, so I crack my door slightly.. yes I'm nosy but it's not every day I get this kind of excitement in my life that I don't have to deal with directly!! :)  I heard the officer ask several times "where is it" but I don't think they ever found "it."  Then I watch as four of the other officers stand off to the side, clearly making fun of her and mimicking her... which is hilarious...

I watch for a while but got bored so I don't know if they ended up arresting her or not.. but it was some fun excitement. 

The only other excitement I've had was once a couple got into a knock-down-drag-out in front of my house the week I moved in (two years ago).  And there was a fight at the pseudo frat house next door and someone busted their HUGE picture window -- but I wasn't here for that one, just came back the next day while they were fixing the window. 

So, I think I'm going to start looking for a new place.  The questions is rent or buy??  I could buy a decent place with lower monthly payments than my current rent... but do I want the headaches that go along with home ownership -- NO.. so it's still a toss up..